Field of the Invention
The human ear consists of three major components: an external or outer ear, a middle ear and an inner ear. The concern of the present invention is with the hygiene of the outer ear which is composed of an auricle or ear lobe, an auditory canal and an ear drum which is responsive to sounds entering the auricle and conveyed by the canal to the ear drum.
Wax is exuded from glands in the cartilage portion of the ear canal, the wax acting to protect the ear from infection and to prevent foreign particles from reaching the eardrum. Ear infections often result from bacteria-laden water trapped in the ear canal.
The most commonly used ear hygiene implement is the swab, this being formed by a wad of soft cotton wound about one end of a small stick. Despite its popularity, most ear specialists interdict the use of swabs, for while a swab is effective in removing some wax from the surface of an ear canal, it also acts to push surface wax further into the ear canal. Hence repeated use of swabs ultimately acts to plug the ear canal and in some cases to entrap water therein.
The configuration of an ear canal is such that once water enters the canal in the course of swimming or bathing activity, it then becomes difficult for the water to escape. The presence of water in the canal, as previously noted, is a common cause of ear infections and may lead to a loss of hearing.
Of prior art interest is the ear wax-removing implement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 147,660, the implement consisting of a twisted wire handle having a loop at either end to which a swab is attached. Of greater prior art interest is the wax extractor disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,212 to Karell in which the implement is in the form of a loop-shaped curette.
A curette is an edged instrument which by repeated strokes acts to scrape the surface engaged thereby. But when the surface to be scraped is that of an ear canal having a relatively soft skin, a curette cannot safely be used to scrape wax therefrom, for the outer edge of the curette loop may scratch this surface in the process of scraping wax therefrom.
Also of prior art interest is the British patent GB 2204496 to McMillan which disclosed an implement for scraping exudate from a cervix and collecting this exudate. The McMillan implement is provided with a loop having an outer scraping edge, as in a curette, and inner projections which collect the exudate scraped from the surface of the cervix.
In a wax-scraping implement in accordance with the invention which includes a loop, scraping is effected not by the loop whose surface is smooth and glides over the surface of an ear canal, but by a scraper which projects inwardly from the loop and is enclosed by the loop.
In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide an ear hygiene implement adapted to scrape wax from the surface of the ear canal in which the implement is inserted without scratching, cutting or otherwise injuring the surface and without ramming the wax more deeply into the canal.
Among the significant advantages of an implement in accordance with the invention are the following:
A. the implement is safe to use, for it includes a guard which limits the extent that the implement can be inserted into an ear canal.
B. The implement which includes a shank having a loop at one end thereof is molded of a single piece of flexible, biocompatible plastic material which is repeatedly bendable yet virtually unbreakable; hence regardless of how vigorously it is manipulated, the loop of the implement which is then in the ear canal will not break off from its shank.
C. The plastic implement is disposable and can be mass-produced at a relatively low cost.
D. The implement is anatomically designed to accommodate the human ear, yet is aesthetically pleasing.
Briefly stated, in one preferred embodiment of the invention these objects are attained in a double-headed implement insertable by its user into an ear canal, one head (X) functioning to scrape wax from the surface of the canal, the other head (Y) functioning to remove water therefrom. The implement is formed by a handle shank having at one end a loop defining the X-head and having at the opposite end a loop defining the Y-head.
The X-head loop is provided with an inwardly-projecting scraper which when the implement is manipulated by a user to cause the head to sweep over and massage the surface of the ear canal, it then scrapes off the wax therefrom and collects it within the loop for removal from the canal. The Y-head loop has mounted therein a flat insert of absorbent material which when this head sweeps over the surface of the ear canal, absorbs water therefrom which causes the insert to swell like a sponge to store the absorbed water so that it can be removed from the canal.
Alternatively, instead of a double-headed implement in which one head is adapted to scrape wax from the surface of an ear canal and the other to absorb water therefrom, both heads can be wax-scraping heads, or both heads can be adapted to absorb water.